On a serene stretch of railway track somewhere in Banff National Park, surrounded by a breathtaking view of the mountain region, a lumbering sow grizzly bear licks up grain spilled by rail cars en route to the West Coast grain terminals.
A cub follows complacently in its mom’s footsteps, lapping up the kernels until yet another grain train, powered by diesel locomotives each weighing 250 tonnes, comes barrelling down the track and wipes out the female like swatting a mosquito, leaving the helpless cub orphaned.
This is a deadly scenario that Ottawa and Canadian Pacific Railways are addressing. Grain trains are among the leading causes of grizzly bear deaths in the park, where studies have placed their dwindling numbers at a 45 to 60.
In the past decade, there have been at least a dozen grizzlies killed in Banff National Park by grain trains, and at least a half dozen cubs orphaned.
Earlier this year, the province of Alberta classified the species as “threatened” because of rapidly dwindling numbers, mostly due to human intrusion. The population has been pegged at around 700 for the entire province.
And while the fight goes on to preserve this magnificent omnivore across the province, a glimmer of hope has emerged for the Banff grizzlies.
In an announcement last week by the federal government and CPR, a five-year, joint-action plan to reduce bear-and-train encounters in the park has been put into place.
Federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice said warning sounds on trains will be implemented to alert the bears, escape routes will be provided for the bears to avoid a train encounter, and there will be fencing on some of the tracks while leaving travel corridors available to park wildlife.
CPR has agreed to spend $1 million on research to keep bears away from the tracks.
Also, the rail company is wrapping up a $20-million project to refurbish 6,300 rail cars to fix a problem that allowed them to leak grain. The railway uses vacuum cars to suck up grain spills, but CEO Fred Green concedes: “. . . we recognize there’s still more work to do.”
CPR’s initiative is to be commended, but there’s still this nagging question: Why weren’t preventive measures undertaken earlier — prior to the grizzlies being classified as threatened.
“CP has been actively involved with the wildlife management plan for over 15 years,” said Green.
Why, then, were bold preventive measures announced last week not implemented 15 years ago when grain spills were obviously identified as a problem to grizzlies?
Jim Pissot of the Wildlife Canada Conservation Alliance said the bears have been feeding on grain along the tracks for so long they have become habituated to it as a food source, while grizzly cubs learn the deadly habits of their mother.
“They were taught by mom that there’s probably something good on the tracks and they come down. I’ve seen them walk along and hoover up grain. It’s an easy source of good, rich protein.”
It’s been an uphill battle for environmental groups, puzzled by the ignorance of provincial and federal governments, to drive home the plight of Alberta’s grizzlies.
But the groups were relentless. And finally, Alberta’s grizzly population, which earned the right as a threatened species, is getting respect from Ottawa and companies like CPR.
Rick Zemanek is an Advocate editor.